Kane County Board

Kane County Board members last week rejected every selection county board Chairman Corinne Pierog made for who should serve on and lead the board’s committees.

Here are official results for the November 2024 for the Kane County Board, countywide offices and local legislative races, as well as several referendum questions.

Corinne Pierog, running for Kane County Board Chair, answered our questionnaire.

Lance Bell, running for Kane County Board Chair, answered our questionnaire.

Former Batavia alderman Dan Chanzit was picked up on three drug-related charges last week, according to Kane County court records.

A former Kane County assistant states' attorney was charged with DUI following a traffic stop, according to a St. Charles police report.

A First Amendment Area at the Kane County Government was questioned by citizens and the board's Executive Committee.

Kane County officials have backed down from the First Amendment area outside county offices.

Longmeadow Parkway is finally complete and the bridge over the Fox River in northern Kane County opened to traffic Thursday afternoon.

For the first time – ever – Kane County will have a seat at the table for the National Association of Counties Judicial and Public Safety Steering Committee with the appointment of Board Member Michelle Gumz, D-Aurora.

The Kane County Board has adopted a climate action implementation plan that recommends ways to reduce the emission of gasses that many experts believe are hurting the climate.

The county board voted 12-11 to keep the chairman’s salary the same as it has been since 2013 the next four years.

Under the proposal, the county board chairman would be paid $130,000, 23% more than the current paycheck, but the pay for county board members would stay the same, at $25,000 a year.

Here are unofficial results for the 2024 March primary for the Kane County Board and local legislative races, as well as referendum questions for the Aurora Township Fire Protection District, Central School District 301, city of North Aurora and village of Pingree Grove.

What challenges is the region facing in terms of attracting business and tourism? Bill Roth: Our County has done very little up to the present time in attracting business and tourism. Read Roth's full election questionnaire here.

What are the top issues facing your county and what would you like to do to address those issues? Michael Kenyon: We have to be able to the provide services that people need like good roads, affordable housing, food, and medical help.

What are the top issues facing your county and what would you like to do to address those issues? Mark Davoust: The top issues facing Kane County are the use of taxpayer dollars, holding the line on spending, and staying within budget.

Amid growing regrets over pandemic pet purchases during COVID-19, Kane County may offer low-cost euthanasia services for the first time.

Sanctuary cities are viewed as being welcoming to migrants, including those who make unauthorized border crossings.

Though Kane County officials devised a process to help transport asylum-seekers dropped off in Kane complete their destinations to Chicago, county board members will remain politically silent on the causes and solutions to the recent “rogue buses.”

Saying it would send the wrong message, Kane County Board members shunned a proclamation this week supporting residents who choose not to get a COVID-19 vaccination.

Kane County officials are poised to do something they haven’t done in more than a decade – approve a property tax increase.

Kane County Board members piece together a plan for the 2024 budget over the next two months.

About 200 neighbors in Elgin Township signed a petition expressing concerns and urging a rejection of a project that would bring trucking and commercial printing businesses to the area.

Kane County Democrats have muscled through changes in who can receive taxpayer dollars for county construction work. The new rules -- long fought against by Kane County Republicans -- will require apprenticeship training for all workers on county construction projects.

Kane County officials are simultaneously moving toward an $8 million upgrade in voting equipment and a possible change that could strip the county clerk of the authority to oversee elections.

KaneComm Director Michelle Guthrie told a Kane County Board committee Thursday that her emergency operators saw a “dramatic increase” of 2,000 phone calls this June compared to June 2022.

LGBTQ+ Kane County residents received support and recognition from their county board for the first time in 186 years Tuesday as representatives approved a proclamation supporting Pride Month. The vote was not unanimous.

Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham said Thursday a group of residents suspicious of fraud and fearful of liberal influences in local elections are “indoctrinated” and “sociopaths.”

Residents told County Board members that Route 47, where the LaFarge mine operates near Elburn, is a speedway for trucks that often blare their horns and hit the gas rather than stop for red lights.

Kane County’s Forest Preserves will grow another 95 acres with the purchase of land adjacent to the Dick Young Forest Preserve along Seavey Road in the southwest portion of Batavia.

The Kane County Board will vote on a proposal that could open the door to 24/7 mining operations at any or all of the 12 quarries in the area. Each facility would need to apply for a special permit to work beyond the 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. limits on hours of operation on the books now.

State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser had opened an investigation into the election after Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham’s election website experienced a roller coaster posting of vote totals.

The police dog was killed in an exchange of gunfire on May 24 in a police-involved shooting on Randall Road.

The vice chair of the Kane County Board wants an independent investigation into the events leading up to a $46,000 separation agreement between Treasurer Chris Lauzen and a longtime employee of the office.

Former Kane County Circuit Clerk Thomas Hartwell has died by an apparent suicide, Sheriff Ron Hain said Thursday.

The plan would change the county code that restricts mining operations to the hours of 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. If the change were approved, mining operations could apply for permission to operate around the clock.

The contract of $10,000 per month for McGuireWoods Consulting is the most money the county has perhaps ever spent on professional lobbying, an expense previous county boards shunned for at least the past decade.

The day after he lost his re-election bid on Nov. 8, 2020 to Theresa Barreiro, Kane County circuit clerk Thomas Hartwell received an invoice for $29,875 from Gutierrez Productions Inc. for “Public Relations on behalf of Kane County."

Commissioners approved a tax levy previous to the budget that will pull in $448,000 of new property taxes to the district. That money will help fund pay increases of up to 4.5% for district employees who receive the highest performance ratings.

Perhaps spurred by recent success in wrangling enough state funds to wipe out the need for a toll on the Longmeadow Parkway, Kane County officials are contemplating their largest investment of taxpayer dollars toward lobbying at the state and federal levels.

The dog days of summer may feature more pooches at outdoor dining establishments in Kane County this year after a committee of county board members signaled this week they favor creating an official county health policy to allow people to bring their pets to restaurant patios.

The Kane County Board this week settled one of three lawsuits connected to a corrections sergeant who pleaded guilty to sexually harassing jail staff for $132,000.

The plan -- a responsible bidder ordinance -- would establish a new set of criteria the county would use in awarding bids for its construction projects.

The opposition to the grant stems from the belief by some local Republicans that the grant money is an attempt to inject liberal influences into local elections.

Kane County Republicans fear money comes with Democratic strings.

The Kane County Board approved three workman’s compensation settlements at a cost of nearly $96,000, according to records released after a Freedom of Information Act request.

Ron Hain publicly spoke out against the gun ban this week for the time since he issued a written statement last month.

The Kane County Board unanimously voted to approve a separation agreement Tuesday with Sean Madison, director of the Office of Emergency Management, effective the same day.

Leaving the aging government center property is a topic that’s arisen multiple times since the county completed its last major infrastructure project.